Lots of pain and aches today. I think I got a lot accomplished in spite of it, but I didn't manage to do any sewing, which is sort of important. I'm having trouble sleeping at the moment because the pain in my knees and hips is keeping me awake. I really hate that.

It still hasn't sunk in that I'm on winter break. We got grades back, btw. I have one A, two B's and one C. I am very, very irritated about the C. I bet you can guess which class I got it in, too.

Money is still really, really tight. Nigel should be getting his disbursement the second week of January, but we're really going to have to make what we have left stretch like crazy until then. Also, Comcast has apparently been billing us at a much higher rate than we were promised, so we're going to have to deal with that as well. We're supposed to be paying $30 a month, thanks to a promotional deal, but they're charging us $50. The thing is, we didn't catch it until now, so hopefully they'll credit the balance to our account and we won't have to pay cable/internet for December.

The gas bill, however, has me really worried. Somehow it didn't get paid last month. Nigel apparently thought he had paid it when he hadn't, so now were $80-something behind. At least we're caught up on the power bill until January.

It's going to be a rough holiday season. I mean, we kind of knew that going in, but the reality is starting to hit. And well, I'm really worried about a lot of things. Bills, obviously, but my health has also taken a nosedive. Something funky is going on with my body and I can't afford to find out what it is. A little over a month ago, I started having dizzy spells. They were infrequent, and tended to only last an hour or two, but lately they've increased in frequency and are lasting longer and longer. There was one day last week where I couldn't get out of bed because of one and I never know when they're going to hit. I can't drive or even hardly walk during them, because I can't open my eyes due to the tilting, swimmy sensation. My frequency of migraines has also increased lately, to where I'm getting at least one a week now, sometimes more.

I can't afford even a basic doctor's visit right now, and I know if I go in, one of the first things they'll do is request a cat scan to make sure I don't have a brain tumor or something. Yeah, a brain tumor is unlikely, but they're going to want to check, you know? My best guess is that I'm anemic again, maybe more severely than before, though that doesn't really explain the migraines (unless there's a correlation I don't know about). I'm probably going to at least try to take some iron supplements and see if that does anything to improve it.

Since I am working on the website redesign, I need to know if my various costuming friends would like a link to their respective pages/galleries in my links section. Right now I have Tracy, Michaela, and Yaya, but I would like links for other people. Sara, do you still have an online portfolio? Mary, I know you have one somewhere. Anybody else?

While in the process of redesigning my website, I came to a realization; I make an awful lot of waistcoats. There are at least six represented on the website and there have been a number of others I never got pictures of. Considering my proximity to the steampunk community, this makes me wonder if I should set up shop and start selling waistcoats to those that need them. I've seen a number of gentlemen lamenting that men's resources for steampunk clothing are few and far between, so I might be offering a service that is actually necessary to the community.

I haven't really made up my mind yet, but I'm leaning in that direction. What say you, my adoring public?

Nigel is working on getting everything finished before grades are due to be in tomorrow. God help me, but I've volunteered to stay up all night with him, if that's what it takes.

So... hi guys, how ya doin'?

Me, I went to a holiday party for a few hours tonight and stitched together one of the many costumes I'm making for the FoD January three-day. I still have to do some dyeing on said costume, as well as either find or make (I'm leaning toward make) some gloves for it, but if someone said I'd have to throw it on and play the NPC now, it would be serviceable. Assuming there's time, and I have a sink free of dirty dishes, I'll likely do the dyeing tomorrow. The gloves will probably have to come at a later date.

After that costume is complete, I start working on one for Adrian, two more for myself, one for Nigel and a whole slew of fabric-y props. Not having school is a wonderful thing, sometimes. I got so much done today, in just one afternoon... I feel so accomplished.

Sadly, as previously mentioned, I can't show you any of what I'm making until after the event. Unfortunate, but necessary due to plot-goodness (and we all like plot-goodness, right?).

Once everything is done for FoD, I do plan on starting the Green Fairy, preferably before the end of the year. I've got the pattern and fabric to make both the blouse and jacket, and possibly the hat, so it looks like I'll be starting from the top down, on that one. I have the pattern for the cincher I'll be using, as well, plus most of the fabric, but I'll need to buy the boning once I get some money. I'm trying to decide between spring steel or spiral steel. Spring steel will give me more of a reduction, but spiral steel is more flexible and probably more comfortable (I say probably because I've pretty much only dealt with spring steel in corsets... well, and plastic/nylon, but that's not even worth mentioning).

I'm very much looking forward to all the steampunk costumes I'll be working on next year. The Peter Pan group is coming together pretty well, so I think that's also going to be awesome. We've finally got someone to be Peter Pan, so the most important character is out of the way. Now, if we could just get someone to be Hook, that would be great.

I've started working up some ideas for Steam-Wendy. There's going to be a corselet involved, most likely, as well as bloomers. I've also decided I'm going to be making a sewing chatelaine to go with it. Need to design the corselet/corset and blouse/chemise combo to figure out where it fits.

I'm doing a lot of costuming for the FoD January event, none of which I'm able to talk about until after the event, but know that if I say I'm working on something between now and then, that's what it's for. I've got about 75% of the stuff I need to make said costuming, the rest of which I'll pick up this weekend after a meeting with our money man (aka - Mike).

Meanwhile, I've got a ton of projects planned for personal costuming next year, some of which I think are going to have to be postponed until 2011. I still really want to make the robe à la française, but I'm not sure if it will be financially feasible this year. At the moment, I think I'm going to put it on the back burner until next year (meaning, 2011)--unless I suddenly come into a lot of money and have a lot of time to work on it.

Other than the Peter Pan group at Dragon*Con and Steam-Wendy, I'm doing at least two other steampunk costumes at the con, those being the Aviatrix and the Green Fairy. I've got most everything for the Fairy, save the trim, some boning and coutil, and the skirt pattern. Hell, I've even got the hat base to cover with fabric. For the aviatrix, I have the leather for the vest and headgear, the scarf, goggles and maybe the blouse (I'll have to see if it still fits). I'll have to buy fabric for the pants, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem. I've also got all the patterns for Wendy, though I'll pretty much need all the fabric for that one. I'll also need to figure out something for shoes. Here's a thought: how does one make steampunk bedroom slippers?

I may also wear some FoD costuming for booth duties, and possibly break out Belle again, but my D*C costuming schedule is pretty much set. I don't really go to any other conventions any more, so I'm not entirely sure whether I'll make anything else during the year. There's a long time between now and then when I may suddenly become inspired by something and want to make it. With the new Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland coming out soon, as well as not having seen much of Adler's wardrobe for Sherlock Holmes other than that hideous pink suit, there may be other things to spark my interest that I have no idea will even catch my attention.

Right now though, the three I'm focusing on are Wendy, the Aviatrix and the Green Fairy. Expect to see lots of things about those in the future.

So, someone over on the Brass Goggles forum posted that, since they'd seen several interpretations of steampunk Wizard of Oz or Alice in Wonderland, they'd really like to see a steampunk version of Peter Pan. I thought that was a brilliant idea and would make an amazing costuming group for next year's Dragon*Con. The thing is, we would need a fair amount of people to pull it off. So if you're interested in joining me, comment here and I'll start building a list of who is working on what. Also, if you know anyone who might be interested, point them this way.

Characters I'd really like to see represented are:
Peter Pan (Corey)
Captain Hook
Tinkerbell (Kate or Lee)
Wendy (Joie)
John
Michael
Mr. Smee
Any of the Lost Boys (Nigel, Ed, room for more)
The Crocodile
Tiger Lily (Shana)
Other Indians
Pirates! (Christine, Courtney's BF, room for more)
Mermaids (Courtney, maybe Kate or Lee, Jamie)

I'm already doing a steampunk fairy costume for next year, so I'm not interested in doing Tinkerbell. Right now I think I'm most interested in doing Wendy, but the idea of a steampunk mermaid is awfully tempting. What does everyone else think?

I finished my last (take-home) final a few minutes ago. I have to swing by campus tomorrow to drop it and the two papers off, and find a notary for some legal paperwork, and then I'm done with everything for the semester. Granted, I do want to pay a visit to the financial aid office at some point to see if I'm eligible for financial aid for the summer. If not, I won't be attending classes over the summer, which is going to be a little weird. I'll have to see if I can find a temporary job or something, if that's the case.

It hasn't really sunk in that I'm done with this semester, though. I guess it won't really until after I've dropped everything off tomorrow. Honestly, I'm really looking forward to the break. I've got a lot of stuff that isn't school-related to do in the downtime. Cleaning the house top to bottom is my number one, priority, though. I'll be really happy when I have a clean house.

I have the majority of the fabric to create costumes for FoD now, so I'll probably start working on some of that this week. I'm still missing one or two things, but I'll hopefully be able to get them within the next few days. I'm going to be very, very busy with sewing until the end of the year.

My lips are so chapped they're cracking. I need to see if I can figure out where my lip balm went.

I'm not a big fan of winter. I get cold easily, for one, so I don't need the weather's help, and the cold makes me ache far worse than any other time of the year. I also have really dry hair/skin normally, so cold weather makes that much worse. I have to moisturize like mad, otherwise I get things like flaky patches and bleeding lips. Blech.

On a more positive note, I get to go fabric shopping tomorrow. I mean, it's not for me, it's for FoD, but I like buying fabric. I sat down and wrote up a list of everything I have to make before the January event and, well, I really need to start working this week. I should be able to get everything done in time. Nothing I'm making is exceptionally complex, but I have a lot of different things to crank out. Time to get cracking.

Tomorrow and Tuesday, however, will be finishing up everything I need for the end of the semester. I currently have one final, one take-home final, and two short papers to write. I'll be doing the take-home final and the first short paper tomorrow, and then the other paper and the at-school final on Tuesday... then I'm done.

Then, I get to concentrate on nothing but housework and sewing. My house will be cleaned like it has never been cleaned before!

Today is a 'me' day. I have done nothing of use. I wandered around the mall and tried on pretty things and spent the rest of the afternoon playing Sims. I needed to get out of the house for a while, but I'm feeling pretty run-down right now. I'm considering taking a nap.

I've got several things to do this weekend and I still I have a few projects to finish before Thursday (two short papers, and a play to submit), so I figured I'd take a day off before all hell breaks loose again. But, hey, only a few more days of this and then I can focus on the house and sewing projects.

I need to do a really thorough cleaning once I have some free time, then get to work on finishing the bedroom. I dyed the curtains a long time ago, but haven't really had a chance to put the ribbon on, and I still need to figure something else out for the comforter. The dog, when he was younger, chewed a couple of holes in it, so it's a mess at this point. I am still considering making a quilt, but we'll have to see.

This semester has been a lot of hurry up and wait. I'm glad it's almost over.

Right now I'm killing time until my Playwriting class starts at 2:00. I have zero desire to go to this class, at this point, but I should so I can find out when our portfolios are due and if I'm missing anything. Instructor/course reviews are today, however, so the department's going to get a mouthful (or pageful) from me on this course. Biggest waste of my time I've ever had.

After Playwriting, I need to visit the language lab and do my German homework as well as log some hours. Then it's German, then Shakespeare (which should be pretty easy, since we're just watching presentations today), and then I can go home.

I have to be honest, I think I would have preferred if Georgia colleges stayed on the quarter system. The semesters seem just a little too long and the way the school has scheduled ours kind of sucks. You have a break for Thanksgiving, then come back for a week, then have finals. That makes this last week simultaneously frantic and useless, because you can't really teach anything, nobody wants to be here and yet everything is due. Blech.

Well, I just have to make it through today and Thursday, and then finals next week and I'm done until January. Then I'll just have a lot of housework and sewing to do at home.

I am clearly not going to be able to 'win' this year. Once again, November asserts itself as not the best month to attempt a novel, thanks to the holiday traveling, end of the semester, and various and assorted crises. I do sort of wish the competition was held at another time of year, say January, when everything is dead and nothing huge happens, but what can you do?

I'm about 12,000 words into my novel and I'll probably keep plugging away on it, here and there. I'm still not crazy about the story, but I really like some of the characters, so maybe that will hold my interest. This certainly isn't great literature I'm writing, but it's good practice.

I'll eventually take a fiction writing course for my minor, so that will hopefully give me some better tools for fiction. I'm taking another poetry course this semester, which I'm very much looking forward to. Poetry comes much more easily to me than fiction.

I can tell I'm back in Atlanta, because my allergies are going crazy. Blech.

At any rate, I made it home last night without any snags or delays, which was nice after the week of hell I've just had. I don't have classes today, so I get to sit here and wait out my allergy attack until my heart's content. Then, after Nigel gets back from school, we're going to make a quick grocery run and maybe have a little quality time to ourselves.

I'm probably going to do a little schoolwork later this evening, but mostly I'm just going to take it easy today. I do want to get started on a couple of projects for FoD, though, so I foresee a lot of sewing in my future.

Off to the airport. Keep your fingers crossed I don't have to spend another night in Houston.

Mom is out of the hospital and says she feels fine. She and my father are taking Chance back to Texas tomorrow, which has me a bit nervous, but I'd feel worse if she stayed here alone, instead of making the trip. I'll be flying out tomorrow night, as scheduled and, while I'm looking forward to returning home, I'm still a little bundle of nerves about, well... everything. I'm also expecting Continental to screw up again. But, maybe everything will be okay. We'll just have to see.

Nigel's picking me up from the airport tomorrow night and I have Monday off before I'm back in school on Tuesday. Due to all the difficulties of the past several days, I haven't had much chance to study for the German test which is coming up this week, so I'm going to talk to Herr Ritter and see if he'll let me take it on Thursday instead of Tuesday. That will give me a few more days to study and get in my time at the language lab.

Other than that, I've only got a couple other things due this week; I have a research project to turn in for Lit Studies, though most of the work for that will be done in class, and I have a presentation due in Shakespeare on Thursday. The only other thing I have to worry about is the portfolio for Playwriting but, really, that's just a lot of printing of things I've already written. I won't be having a final in Lit Studies or Playwriting, and the final for Shakespeare looks to be pretty easy. The only final I'm concerned about is German, but I'm focusing on one thing at a time.

I'm glad that school's almost done for this semester. I'm hoping to get a lot of cleaning and sewing done over the winter break. I have the cutest pillow that I finished embroidering while I was down here that I'll have to get pictures of when I'm back at home.

Anyway, keep your fingers crossed for me, that I have an easy flight.

As for what's been going on...

Mom had a small stroke on Thanksgiving and has been in the hospital for the past several days. So far, things look good, so we're hoping she'll be home later this evening. My dad has been with her the whole time, so it's just been Chance and me here for the past couple of days. We don't currently have access to a car, so I'm sort of going stir-crazy. Chance is behaving pretty well, but I don't see how stay at home moms do it. That's definitely not a lifestyle I'm interested in pursuing.

Chance was supposed to go back to Texas today, but obviously there's been a change of plans. We've already called Chris and told him we'll keep him updated, but Chance will probably have to spend an extra day or two down here. Me, I'm supposed to fly back to Atlanta tomorrow night, but I'm also not sure if that's going to happen. If mom is still in the hospital, I need to be here to take care of Chance. Here's to hoping she's out soon.

I talked to her on the phone a couple of times and she says she feels fine, and there doesn't seem to be any lasting effects, so that's good, at least. Dad's going to have to keep a close eye on her in the future, though.

There's also some other stuff going on, but it's of a more sensitive nature, so I won't be discussing it here. Simply put, this has been a very turbulent week and I'm very stressed, tired and now seem to be coming down with something. This has not been a very good vacation.

What the fuck is wrong with most conservatives? All they want to do is argue. I don't go around forcing my unasked-for opinions on complete strangers. That's just goddamn rude.

If I want your opinion I will fucking ask for it. No, I don't want to argue or 'debate' with you. All 'debating' with conservatives does is piss me off. Why would I want to be pissed off? It's not 'fun' for me.

There's been a lot of drama that's occurred over the Thanksgiving holidays, most of which I'm really not interested in discussing here. In the meantime, while trying to keep myself from going crazy, I've been working on a little side project.

Check out Follow the White Rabbit a blog I've begun, dedicated to highlighting the best in handmade goods out there. My very first post spotlights UNAshop, which creates gorgeous leather bags that I would kill for if I had even a few pennies to spare.

Costume Meme

1. What was your first costume?
The first costume I ever made from scratch was this green dress for my Shattered Isles character, Lore. That was back in 2001. I've come a long way since then.

2. Did someone get you into costuming? Or on your own?
It was pretty much all me. I couldn't afford to buy costuming for games off the rack too often, so I decided I'd learn how to make them. This was also helpful since I've always been built oddly and it was difficult finding things that fit.

3. What is your favourite costume?
That's a really hard one. I think, probably, Katrina, though I honestly haven't had the time or money to do anything I've really adored so far. Hopefully that will change this year, since I should be doing at least one costume that's a real showstopper.

4. Which is your least favourite costume?
Ugh. Too many! I'm highly critical of my own work, so it's really hard for me to pinpoint a costume that's my least favorite. There are at least half a dozen that I wish I could have done better.

5. At conventions, do people compliment you on your costumes?
Sometimes. I do a lot of original designs and less-recognizable costumes so, most of the time, people don't really know what I'm supposed to 'be'.

6. How many have you done?
Um... a lot? I've done at least 50 for myself, and probably well over 100 if I count commissions as well.

7. What are the top 5 on your list of "Want to Costume!"
This is also a hard one, because I don't normally have 'dream' costumes that I put off until 'someday'. I do know I want to make a robe a la francaise at some point, as well as a Victorian ball gown, but, beyond that, I don't have a lot that are on my wishlist. I think my only 'dream' costume would be Nini's windmill gown from Moulin Rouge, which I'll hopefully complete in the next five years.

8. Your most memorable experience? What makes it so memorable?
The huge steampunk costume gathering from last year was pretty memorable, just because there were so many fabulous costumes in one place. Also, there was almost none of the ridiculous cattiness you see in a lot of other costuming groups. Everyone was really laid back and friendly.

9. Is there a pattern in your costuming? If so, what?
I've made a lot of Victorian costumes. I don't really consider myself a Victorian costumer, but I seem to be headed in that direction.

10. Your most recent costume?
My most recent one is Belle, but I'm currently working on the 'cupcake dress', as well as a handful of things for the January FoD event.

11. What do you prefer? Cosplaying in a group or on your own?
Either is fine with me. Groups are good for attracting attention, but having the freedom to costume when I want, where I want is also nice.

12. What skill are you most proud of in regards to costuming?
I don't know about 'most proud', but I really enjoy hand embroidery. I'm doing a lot of it on the 'cupcake dress' and I'm really looking forward to seeing how it will turn out.

13. If you had one piece of advice to give to other costumers, what would it be?
Practice, practice, practice. I see a lot of people get frustrated or assume they aren't talented enough to make more elaborate costumes. Generally that's not true; they just need the experience before they reach that level. As noted above, I've made at least 100 costumes. That's a lot of practice. If I'm better than any other costumer, it's only because I've done more work and had more practice then them.

14. Are there any materials you absolutely love to work with?
Silk. Any kind of silk; silk satin, dupioni, silk taffeta, you name it. I also love sparkly things like beads, rhinestones and sequins.

15. Are there any materials you hate?
Panne velvet. I hate everything about it--the way it looks, the way it feels, the fact that it crumbles when you try to sew it. Everything. I hate when people use it for their own costumes. It's just so tacky and they would be better served by using a cotton velvet instead. Also, though this is usually an indication of inexperience, I hate when people use lining material for outer fabric. Most people that do this, though, aren't skilled enough to tell the difference between satin and lining fabric, though.

Apparently my parents do have a wireless router. This is a new thing, so I didn't think to ask about internet capability until they specifically mentioned it. So I've been able to check my email (which is good, because my in-box was flooded and Nigel's cell phone doesn't seem to be working ATM), but I'm not going to go back through 3+ days of LJ posts. Thus, if I've missed something important, please tell me about it.

Other than that, things are... going. There's been a bit of drama that I would rather do without. There's no such thing as a free lunch, apparently, or a quiet vacation.